Conference paper
CHALLENGES FOR ETHNOGRAPHICAL AND SOCIAL HISTORY MUSEUMS LOOKING TO THE NEW MILLENIUM
Ivo Maroević
; Faculty of Philosphy, Zagreb
Abstract
Museums change their character during the 20th century. The relation towards the public becomes dominant. Messages follow the development of social and political relations. Museum objects have had their meaning enriched. Besides ethnographical museums of various kinds (Volkskunde and Voelkerkunde) social history museums appeared as complemetary to the history museums.
Museology acquired an academic character. It has opened a special: semiotic, postmodern, structuralistic and culturological aspect of the interpretation of museum objects and collections. Research into the material world as a structure of various layers of meaning opens up new horizons of multiculturalism.
Globalisation started with the information revolution. The world has become a global village. Multiculturalism is recognized as a process. Monoculturalism is in the process of disappearing. New paradigms have appeared. People trust what they find in museums. New phenomena of knowledge will appear in the virtual world. The possibility of cloning the past in the present is before us.
Museums will have a new role in the social and political processes, especially ethnographical and social history museums. They balance between the real and the virtual world. They are to collect recognised objects capable of being documents in the future. This type of museum is not satisfied with pictures of life. They have to deal with new ideas of territorial museology, eco museology and the concept of the new traditional way of life. All these possibilities are open at the entrance to the third millenium.
Keywords
ethnographical museums; social history museums; virtual musums; museology
Hrčak ID:
141673
URI
Publication date:
15.1.1999.
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